Schools asbestos warning

Released 18/10/2010

Steering committee back in action

The steering group Asbestos in Schools will continue to function under the new government, it has been confirmed.

Campaigners for Asbestos in Schools held a meeting last week with Lord Hill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools where he agreed to the continuation of the steering group.

Asbestos in Schools was set up in the last Parliament to look at all aspects of risk, management and training for asbestos in schools. It had been on hold since the change in government and now plans to meet before Christmas.

During the meeting Annette Brooke MP suggested it was important to have a staged programme of implementation to deal with the issue of asbestos in schools, and Lord Hill was receptive to this.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said: "The NUT along with other unions will be able to inform the work of this group on the basis of the outcomes of a questionnaire which we will be putting into schools for the European Health and Safety Week."

Estimates vary, but more than 14,000 schools in the UK are thought to contain asbestos. Over time, and without proper management, the safety of asbestos declines, and dangerous levels have been recorded during daily events, such as when children slam classroom doors.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of UNISON, said he was "deeply concerned" that standards of asbestos management, which are already falling, will fall further as more schools are taken out of local authority control.

"There should be no place for asbestos in our schools. Children, staff and parents should have the right to know they are learning in a safe and healthy environment," he added.

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